USPTO Patents Application 10693566

United States Patent and Trademark Office

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office

Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450

Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www.usplo.gov

APPLICATION NO.

FILING DATE

FIRST NAMED INVENTOR

ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. |

CONFIRMATION NO. |

10/693,566

10/23/2003

Ravi Narasimhan

MP0337

3596

26200 7590 12/11/2007

FISH & RICHARDSON P.C.
P.OBOX 1022

MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55440-1022

EXAMINER

TRAN, KHAI

ART UNIT

PAPER NUMBER

2611

MAIL DATE

DELIVERY MODE

12/11/2007 PAPER

Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.

The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.

PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)

Office Action Summary

Application No.

10/693,566

Applicant(s)

NARASIMHAN, RAVI

Examiner
KHAI TRAN

Art Unit

2611

- The MAILING DATE of this communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address

Period for Reply

A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR REPLY IS SET TO EXPIRE 3 MONTH(S) OR THIRTY (30) DAYS,
WHICHEVER IS LONGER, FROM THE MAILING DATE OF THIS COMMUNICATION.

- Extensions of time may be available under the provisions of 37 CFR 1 .136(a). In.no event, however, may a reply be timely filed
after SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication.

- If NO period for reply is specified above, the maximum statutory period will apply and will expire SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication.

- Failure to reply within the set or extended period for reply will, by statute, cause the application to become ABANDONED (35 U.S.C. § 133).
Any reply received by the Office later than three months after the mailing date of this communication, even if timely filed, may reduce any
earned patent term adjustment. See 37 CFR 1.704(b).

Status

1)1X1 Responsive to communication(s) filed on 13 August 2007 ,
2a)Q This action is FINAL. . 2b)IEI This action is non-final.

3) D Since this application is in condition for allowance except for formal matters, prosecution as to the merits is

closed in accordance with the practice under Ex parte Quayle, 1935 CD. 11, 453 O.G. 213.

Disposition of Claims

4) I3 Claim(s) 1-82 is/are pending in the application.

4a) Of the above claim(s) is/are withdrawn from consideration.

5) D Claim(s) is/are allowed.

6) |EI Claim(s) 1.2.6.7.9-1 1.16.19-21.25.26.28-30.34-36.40.41 A3-45.50-64.65.66.72-75.81 and 82 is/are rejected.

7) [X] Claim(s) 3. 4. 5. 8. 12-15. 17-18.. 22.-23. 27. 31-33. 37-39. 42. 46-49. 67-71. 6-80 is/are objected to.

8) D Claim(s) are subject to restriction and/or election requirement.

Application Papers

9) Q The specification is objected to by the Examiner.

10) D The drawing(s) filed on is/are: a)D accepted or b)Q objected to by the Examiner.

Applicant may not request that any objection to the drawing(s) be held in abeyance. See 37 CFR 1 .85(a).
Replacement drawing sheet(s) including the correction is required if the drawing(s) is objected to. See 37 CFR 1 .121 (d).

1 1) D The oath or declaration is objected to by the Examiner. Note the attached Office Action or form PTO-152.

Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119

12) D Acknowledgment is made of a claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. § 1 19(a)-(d) or (f).
a)D All b)D Some * c)D None of:

1 .□ Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.

2. D Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No. .

3. Q Copies of the certified copies of the priority documents have been received in this National Stage

application from the International Bureau (PCT Rule 17.2(a)).
* See the attached detailed Office action for a list of the certified copies not received.

Attachment(s)

1 ) £3 Notice of References Cited (PTO-892) 4) □ Interview Summary (PTO-41 3)

2) □ Notice of Draftsperson's Patent Drawing Review (PTO-948) Pa P er No(s)/Mail Date. .

3) □ Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO/SB/08) *> □ Notice of Informal Patent Application

Paper No(s)/Mail Date . 6) U Other: .

U S Patent and Trademark Office
PTOL-326 (Rev. 08-06)

Office Action Summary

Part of Paper No./Mail Date 20071206

Application/Control Number: Page 2

10/693,566

Art Unit: 2611

DETAILED ACTION

1 . The amendment filed 3/9/2007 has been entered. Claims 1-82 are pending in
this Office action.

Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103

2. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all
obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:

(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set
forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and
the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the
invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains.
Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.

3. Claims 1-2, 6-7, 9-11, 16, 19, 20-21, 25-26, 28, 29-30, 34, 35-36, 40-41, 43, 44-
45, 50-51, 55-56, 58, 59-60, 65-66, 72-73, 74-75, 81-82 are rejected under 35 U.S.C.
103(a) as being unpatentable over Opera (US 2004/0190636) in view of Li (US
2003/0016621).

Regarding claim 1 , Opera discloses a method comprising: transmitting a first
training symbol on a plurality of antennas, wherein the first training symbol comprises a
plurality of data symbols (see abstract, Figure 1), and wherein each of the plurality of
antennas transmits a corresponding one of the plurality of data symbols (see [0036]);
and wherein each of the plurality of antennas transmits a corresponding one of the
plurality of data symbols (see [0013], [0066]).

Opera fails to disclose wherein each of the plurality of data symbols corresponds
to different ones of a plurality of tones.

Application/Control Number: Page 3

10/693,566

Art Unit: 2611

Li discloses wherein each of the plurality of data symbols corresponds to different
ones of a plurality of tones (see [0028]-[0029]). It would have been obvious to one
having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to assign each of the
plurality of data symbols corresponds to different ones of a plurality of tones as taught
by Li into the teachings of Opera in order to enable to achieve the best theoretical
performance.

Regarding claim 2, Opera and Li disclose the method further comprising
transmitting step of transmitting a second training symbol (Nj) on the plurality of
antennas (antenna 1, 120-2),

Regarding claim 6, Opera discloses the transmitting each of the training symbols
(or the first training symbol) at least two times (see [0052] wherein the training symbols
are periodically transmitted to the receiver).

Regarding claim 7, Opera discloses wherein the plurality of data symbols in the
first training symbol are transmitted simultaneously on the plurality of antennas (see
Figure 1, [0037]).

Regarding claim 9, Opera discloses wherein the first training symbol comprises
an OFMD (orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) training symbol ([0036]).

Regarding claim 10, Opera and Li both disclose a receiver (16,160) for receiving
the transmitted signal from the transmitter 10. The limitations of the claim 10 are similar
to claim 1 . Li further discloses a step of determining a gain at each of the plurality of
antennas for each of the plurality of tones ([0067]).

Application/Control Number: Page 4

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Art Unit: 2611

Regarding claim 11, Opera discloses wherein the determining comprises: for
each of the plurality of antennas, interpolating values for a plurality of the tones from the
corresponding plurality of data symbols received from the antennas (see [0098]).

Regarding claim 14, Opera discloses a step of receiving each of the plurality of
data symbols from each the plurality of antennas (see Fig. 1).

Regarding claim 15, Opera discloses a step of performing an Invert Fourier
transform on the plurality of data symbols received from each of the plurality of
antennas (see [0049]).

Claim 16 is similar to claim 1. Therefore, claim 16 is rejected under a similar
rationale.

Claim 19 is similar to claim 9. Therefore, claim 19 is rejected under a similar
rationale.

Claim 20 is similar to claim 1. Therefore, claim 20 is rejected under a similar
rationale.

Claim 21 is similar to claim 2. Therefore, claim 21 is rejected under a similar
rationale.

Claim 25 is similar to claim 6. Therefore, claim 25 are rejected under a similar
rationale.

Claim 26 is similar to claim 7. Therefore, claim 26 is rejected under a similar
rationale.

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Art Unit: 2611

Claim 28 is similar to claim 9. Therefore, claim 28 is rejected under a similar
rationale.

Claim 29 is similar to claim 10. Therefore, claim 29 is rejected under a similar
rationale.

Claim 30 is similar to claim 1 1 . Therefore, claim 30 is rejected under a similar
rationale.

Claim 34 is similar to claim 15. Therefore, claim 34 is rejected under a similar
rationale.

Claims 35-36 are similar to claims 1-2. Therefore, claims 35-36 are rejected
under a similar rationale.

Claims 44-49 are similar to claims 10-15. Therefore, claims 44-49 are rejected
under a similar rationale.

Claims 44-45 are similar to claims 10-11. Therefore, claims 44-45 are rejected
under a similar rationale.

Claims 50-51 are similar to claims 1-2. Therefore, claims 50-51 are rejected
under a similar rationale.

Claims 55-56 are similar to claims 6-7. Therefore, claims 55-56 are rejected
under a similar ratio

Claim 58 is similar to claim 9. Therefore, claim 58 rejected under a similar
rationale.

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10/693,566

Art Unit: 2611

Claims 59-60 are similar to claims 1-2. Therefore, claim 59-60 are rejected
under a similar rationale.

Claims 65-66 are similar to claims 1, 2, 10. Therefore, claim 65-66 are rejected
under a similar rationale.

Claims 72-73 are similar to claim 9. Therefore, claim 72-73 are rejected under a
similar rationale.

Claims 74-75 are similar to claims 65-66. Therefore, claim 74-75 are rejected
under a -similar rationale.

Claims 81-82 are similar to claim 9. Therefore, claim 81-82 are rejected under a
similar rationale.

Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101

4. 35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:

Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of
matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the
conditions and requirements of this title.

5. Claims 50-64 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because: the claims that are
directed to computer program.

Allowable Subject Matter

6. Claims 3, 4, 5, 8, 12-15, 17-18, 22,-23, 27, 31-33, 37-39, 42, 46-49, 67-71, 76-80
are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable
if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any
intervening claims.

Application/Control Number:

10/693,566

Art Unit: 2611

Page 7

Conclusion

7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
examiner should be directed to KHAI TRAN whose telephone number is (571) 272-
3019. The examiner can normally be reached on 7:00AM - 4:30PM.

If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's
supervisor, David Payne can be reached on (571) 272-3024. The fax phone number for
the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.

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Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only.
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system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.

KHAI TRAN

Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2611

AT